Thailand Letter
October 20, 1997
Bangkok, Thailand
Dearest Family,
Actually I titled this letter "Spider News" to get your attention. "Monday Letter" seemed so boring. I'll tell you about the spider at the end of this.
I had a message from Claire last night on the computer but Virginia was typing a letter so I didn't answer it and planned to this morning. Then this morning, I had the messages from Ann, Jessie and Lee Anna but I didn't have time to answer them before leaving for school and planned to do it this afternoon. Then when we came home about an hour ago I had letters from Patrice and Bob SO I will answer all of them in one letter.
Thank you SO much for writing - I truly will understand when you don't have time but they mean SO much to me!!!
Claire - I can relate to your sewing mistakes - I have made more in my lifetime than I have had successes. I also know you are a very talented seamstress and will get it right in no time at all. I loved hearing about Relief Society and the new teaching schedule - it really is about time they gave the teachers more freedom in choosing what they could teach. Our ward in Orem was very carefully scrutinized and we had to keep the teachers strictly on the lesson manual or in the scriptures or the Ensign. It takes a talented teacher but we have had the same lessons now for the last four years - just repeated. I hope you can find jobs for the teachers who will want to be released. Boyd Packer has always been such a huge support for the Relief Society Sisters - I LOVE Relief Society!!!
Ann - I loved your long and newsy letter but I am saddened to hear that Bev is not doing very good. I'm SO glad that Ron will take time to go and be with them. I will NEVER forget how sweet all of you were to your Dad when he was going through this - Roy came home every month for at least four months before Daddy died and that meant so much to us. Those of you in Utah were so attentive and it is a time that cannot be done over again. I don't know what we would have done differently but sometimes I think I was way too "flippant". I know that the one who needs the most help is Russ. Is there any one you can hire to cook for them in Jerome. I agree with them that they need to stay in their own home - there is no substitute for home - and they have lived in the same place most of their lives!!! When you talk about Thanksgiving Point and planting bulbs, I get homesick. Russ - I will miss your football games next year too but I will be there for the ones in l999 so keep up the good work. Jessie - I laughed right out loud when I read that you had a "boring life" - you couldn't possibly cram anymore into your days and I'm SO proud of the news articles you are writing for your school newspaper. Lee Anna - I'm pulling for a tournament win for your soccer team!!! I'll bet English History is hard but I know you will get a good grade. Jimmy - I can just see you hurrying and scurrying about with all your friends in your neighborhood - getting ready for Halloween. Susanna - JERUSALEM NEXT SUMMER - Wow - that sounds WONDERFUL!!! I'll bet the Country Music Concert in Ogden was fun - I'm SO glad Susanna, Jessie and Lee Anna could go together. I would be frightened at a Haunted House at the State Mental Hospital too Jessie!!!
Patrice - what a WONDERFUL letter!!! I loved reading about the Arkansas State Fair - that was always such a great family tradition for us. I laughed about your enjoying the "pigs". Riding the Ferris Wheel just as the sun was going down sounds like such a well planned thing to do - I'm happy that you have allowed your children to go on the rides. We always tried to avoid them - Ha!!! I always loved those ice cream sticks that were covered in chocolate and then rolled in crushed peanuts - do they still have them? EMILY - I AM SO PROUD OF YOU FOR DOING YOUR GENEALOGY!!! Was it a school project or did you do it on your own. I am so happy that you learned the things you did about the Mormon Pioneer Trail - that has been on the news a lot, I guess. I'm glad Timothy has a good basketball coach - I'll bet Timothy is a natural - I always remember how good he is at baseball. I remember the birthday parties when we were in Little Rock and they got so extravagant and the parties that the children enjoy the most are the simple ones so "stick to your guns". It was fun to hear about Trip Strauss' party - they know how to entertain in Little Rock, don't they? I'm glad I know people in "High Places" - Ha!!! (Trip and his wife live next door to Lt. Gov. Win. Rockefeller and they came to their party). Give my love to Suzie and what is "T'ai Chi"? Jessie - be a ghost - Ha!!!
I looked at the calendar today while we were at school and I said to Virginia - "I have four Family birthdays this week" and I feel bad that I am not doing anything for any of you. Timothy's Birthday is Thursday, Oct. 23rd, Susanna's birthday is Friday, Oct. 24th and Roy & Patrices' birthdays are Saturday, October 25th. I hope you all have WONDERFUL birthdays and I will catch up when I get home. ROY - YOU WILL BE 40 YEARS OLD!!! How can that be???
Bob - you did it again!!! Virginia and I sat by the computer and just devoured again the article you sent about Pres. Hinckley and Elder Wirthlin and their wives going to commemorate "150 years of Pioneers in the Pacific". They started in Laie, Hawaii and continued on to the two Samoas, Tonga, Fiji and Tahiti. I would have loved to attend some of that celebration - it would be fun to see how they produce an "Old Fashioned Gold and Green Ball" - they have changed so much since I was a teenager. When I first started reading it, I thought it was a reprint from a few years ago, I couldn't believe that it was Oct. 7 - 11 of this month. How could they have the energy to do that along with General Conference just the week before. The article is so inspiring and we will read and re-read it many times. Thank you so very much Bob!!!
It was SO funny - at church they had a video of the Priesthood Session of Conference. We had a missionary translate for us - after each talk we would turn to him and tell him what the speaker had said - his translation didn't make any sense and we were so glad we had read the talks on the internet.
We spent the day at Sai Mai today for a preparation day. Actually, some of the teachers come in and we "practice English" with them. Virginia helped a lady from the University who is getting her Ph. D. - she needed help with some of her English grammar. I made some visual aids. I have never worked harder in preparation for classes - I keep thinking it will get easier but it doesn't. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the books Julianna sent.
I finally got some cash yesterday. I got the money from one of the $500 checks I had written out the first of October - they charged $30 for cashing it. I have tried to use the ATMs this past weekend but they "were out of service". John, the people at the mission office said I should ask you to do this. GO TO ZION'S BANK AND TELL THEM YOU HAVE A MOTHER SERVING A MISSION IN BANGKOK, THAILAND. You give them a check to be deposited in an account here in my name. The church has an account set up and they only charge $2 for each check and you get the money immediately. We just found out about this. I WILL FIND OUT MORE JUST WHAT YOU NEED TO DO AND LET YOU KNOW IF YOU ANSWER THIS LETTER AND TELL ME YOU WILL DO IT. I won't need for you to do it for a few more weeks but it seems like that is the way to go.
Now about the spider!!! Right after I wrote to you on Saturday night I walked into the kitchen. We have a white piece of paper taped on our wall with a "reminder note" written on it. When I looked at it, I could see these LONG black legs sticking out under the paper. I screamed and Virginia came running. She thought I was playing a joke on her and had put one of those play plastic spiders under the paper. I finally convinced her that it was for real. She hit the other side of the wall and I stood with a can of "ant spray". It came crawling out but the spray didn't faze it and it scampered in under our stair way. WELL - we hunted that dumb thing for at least 30 minutes and finally found it again - I sprayed it until it fell to the floor and then I swatted it with a fly swatter. I am not kidding when I say it was as big as my hand and it was black as night. We think it came in on some plastic chairs we had used on the back patio to put our clothes on to get dry. YUK AND DOUBLE YUK!!!
This is much too long. I LOVE YOU SO VERY, VERY MUCH. BE CAREFUL. GRANDMA B